8 -LINE COLOUR MATERIAL LENGTH. [PART I. 



Colour should also be looked to, but it is 

 a minor consideration. Of all faults that of 

 "kinking" is the most fatal to sport and temper. 

 If a kinking line does not make a man swear, I 

 don't know what will. The best lines are made of 

 silk, or mostly silk. As good as any that I have 

 seen were made by Mr Edward Lees, Golden Sal- 

 mon, Nottingham, price a penny a yard. The line 

 should be dressed occasionally, and that, not by 

 being merely dipped, as London tackle-makers are 

 apt to do it, but by having the composition well 

 rubbed in with the hand. The Thames fishermen, 

 who spin much, are good hands at this. I should 

 recommend any one ordering a new spinning-line, 

 not to have it shorter than a hundred yards. It is 

 not often that so much is required, but it may be 

 occasionally found extremely useful to have a 

 reserve on the reel, as for instance in the case of 

 hooking a large fish from a weir, when you may 

 have to go a long way round before you can bring 

 him down stream to land him; or again your 

 hooks may get foul under the camp-sheeting, when 

 you may save your tackle by going round and get- 

 ting a pull on it from the opposite direction. At 

 the close, or more frequently at the commence- 

 ment of a season, you will find it necessary, if your 



